Author: alohawild

I am back to the weekend habit of blogging about the previous day’s events in the morning, and then I rush into the late-morning events. So I am writing Saturday’s blog at 7AM Sunday morning. I had two coffees at Richard’s house as I got cold and needed to warm up. Unfortunately, the caffeine kept me up most of the night. So it is a challenging start this Sunday morning and hard to write, but let’s get going.

I slept in on Saturday, and this, as I suggested above, had me running late and rushing. The sleep was welcome; it was the first good night’s sleep I had in a few days. The blog writing went on for 1,400 words, and thus I was late finishing at 10:15. The shower, dressing, and then driving across Beaverton meant that I arrived very late at the hummingbird house at 11:40 or so.

Susie was delighted to see me. Susie was sitting in her recliner in the shared space, looking alert and feeling good. Anassa was the nursing aide for the weekend, and she said Susie had a busy morning but was doing well.

Evan, taking on additional overtime at his telco call center, still wanted to meet up today and was at Susie’s place at about 12:20PM. I waited for him, so we called Leta, Susie’s mother, while waiting. Leta was home, and Susie and I had a friendly chat with her.

I grabbed Susie’s warm and waterproof brown leather coat (a good choice here in Oregon with a waterproof hat or pulling up the hood), and Anassa put Susie in the wheelchair. The nurse aides can just pop Susie in and out, and they always amaze me.

Evan showed, and I took Susie to Air Volvo, got out the stool, put the lifting belt on Susie, and then lifted her into the co-pilot seat. Susie is not standing, so I must handle the whole of her weight and swing her into the car. Now that I am ready for that, I get her onto the seat and then reach in and pull her fulling into the seat. Evan put the wheelchair for me in the cargo hold and then took a passenger seat in the second row.

Aside: Air Volvo is a 2018 XC60 Volvo, an SUV, and is grey-green in color, I traded in the previous XC60 as I did not like my first one, but the newish 2018 version is a dream to drive. It is a gas vehicle, as only hybrids existed for the size of SUVs I wanted and were priced relatively high. I looked last weekend at a perfectly sized Tesla SUV for Susie and me, but the $121,000 price tag (also the price point for the nice Mercedes EV SUV) has me staying with my existing vehicle. Also, Telsa gets no federal tax credit, making it a costly EV SUV.

We drove a few miles to Washington Square Mall, parked, and unloaded Susie. The lift down to the wheelchair is more straightforward as I just swing and lower Susie to the wheelchair. We then crossed the parking lot, always taking the covered parking so we won’t enjoy an Oregon downpour when loading or unloading Air Volvo.

We walked pushing Susie the whole way through the entire mall. Evan wanted to see the menu of the world-famous Korean restaurant that was now at the mall. It is famous for its dumplings. We stopped at the food court, which is very busy for an after-the-holidays January, and got our usual for Susie and me. I had a giant hot dog with onions, ketchup, and mustard, and Susie had a scoop of strawberry ice cream in a cup. Susie mostly fed herself today–yeah! I also had some fries, and I shared a few with Susie, who ate a tiny bit of the deep-fried potatoes without a choking incident. Evan found some Indian food but would not recommend it.

We then continued the visit and found Williams Sonoma was selling their excess (a huge pile) of the Christmas goodies at 1/2 price (meaning now it was not too expensive). Susie agreed to share hot chocolate and peppermint bark at the hummingbird house. Susie also picked out some cut flowers to take back with her. A stand for flowers is in the mall hallway made out of an old van.

Afterward, we crossed through the mall and returned to the parking lot. I reloaded Susie after pulling out Air Volvo halfway and turning on the flashers. More folks had arrived, the parking spot next to Air Volvo was full, and the remaining space was too tight for Susie and the wheelchair. We managed without incident.

Susie was quite tired as we had skipped a few outings for various reasons in December and January–we were out of practice. Susie was leaning now in her wheelchair, and I had to be very attentive not to have her fall forward and out of the wheelchair. Susie was soon safe at the hummingbird house, looking for lunch (even after the ice cream) and some rest. We left Susie, happy and tired, with a kiss and a wave.

Evan and I stopped by a Viking-styled taphouse, Iron Tap Station, not far from the hummingbird house. I ordered a beer, and we got out my choice of the board game Brass: Lancashire. Evan had played it last week and cost a bit lost, and I wanted to try again. This time Evan got it and beat me by a tiny four points or so. We still had a few problems with card draws–from here out, cards will not be drawn until income to ensure that no extra cards are drawn in error. Evan often had ten cards in his hand as he would finish his turn and still have a full hand.

Evan won by building ships that are high points in the game and automatically flip to the point side–very valuable. I had ignored this as there are a limited two places to build ships in the two-person game, but Evan noticed that you could build trains to the other sections of the board and build a ship with the general cards. I had not thought of that and was schooled thus by Evan and lost by a few points. Evan was proud of his win.

We use Iron Clay poker chips with Brass, which improves the game experience. In Brass, the player that spends the least money is the first player on the next turn. This means that all the money spent is put on the player marker, counted at the end of the turn, the turn order is revised, and then the money is returned to the bank. This means a lot of movement, and the poker chips make this much more manageable.

We finished our beers (just one for me) and then packed up and went our separate ways. I drove through heavy traffic. A car slammed its brakes on 217 and nearly caused a multi-car pile-up with Air Volvo in the middle. The auto braking started, and it was hard for me to understand what was happening (the polite trolly car bell); then I threw the wheel to the right and slammed the brakes taking Air Volvo into the on-ramp lane. Other cars, now sideways in various angles, joined me there, but no paint was lost. Traffic quickly resumed, and Air Volvo had no more trolly car bell events on the way to Richard’s.

It was just the two of us, Richard and I, and we played the board game War of Whispers. It was more than a year since we tried it, and it took us a while to get the somewhat arcane process in our heads. This game is unique in my experience and is loosely based on the Game of Thrones (GoT) world. But you could imagine it anywhere, as only a bit of the iconography resembles GoT. In this game, you have a set of hidden tokens that list what factions (simply colors) you support, are neutral towards, and ones you wish to damage or destroy. You and your opponents advise these factions and get some control of them. Likely, you will only have partial control of a faction, and you have to guess your opponent’s plans. It is a fast game and has some crazy GoT power cards that can tip the game back and forth as you treat the factions (colored armies) as pawns. It is pretty fun, and Richard made a last-minute attack that crushed blue (my second best) and wounded red (my best) by expanding brown (his best). Richard won by four points–next time!

Next, as that game, even with the rules checks, took only 90 minutes, we played a couple card games. Innovation is an insane card game from 2016, like nothing I have played before. I started to get the hang of it and had Richard running scared for a bit, but in the end, his better strategy won as he blocked my rush to finish the victory conditions. Innovation is just a box of cards with an under $20 price tag and plays 2-4 players in about an hour.

We played, and I forgot the name, a fun and easy matching card game based on Star Trek, and that was fun. We played two hands, as it was fast and easy. Richard pulled everything he needed in the second game and had a massive score.

I was cold and asked for more coffee. This was a mistake as I slept poorly, if at all, on Sunday morning. Richard made French press, and there were enough coffee grounds for a pot–I was fully awake when I left at 10:20.

My drive was fine, and the roads were dry primarily as the rains had stopped for the evening. However, on my last trip, the showers were so heavy that there was standing water on the on-ramps to bridges–on-ramps that are five stories tall!

I had a ham and cheese sandwich at home, which helped a bit–I had no dinner making the coffee wallop me. I dozed a few times, but deep sleep did not come. Next time, no coffee at the end of games.

Thanks for reading.

It is my first Friday of 2023 and the first one in a few weeks working from home. I feel a bit off as I try to work, see Susie, and run my household. It all feels a bit overwhelming this new year.

The office in the house, the back bedroom, and the window let me watch the backyard. Some of my favorite birds, Flickers, showed up today after the cats patrolled the backyard. A large grey squirrel was also in the back, jumping into the air and chasing some bugs. Mike, a local, removed all the leaves and gunk from my eaves, and now the water is making a lot of noise. I had forgotten that sound.

I start a bit later in the morning as I work from home and do not have to rush to the office. My foot hurt and woke me in the night–I take the usual painkillers, and soon I can sleep again. I skip my stretches and excesses as I am not supposed to hurt.

During the day, I order my emergency inhaler via the online pharmacy. It will still take a few days to get here, but at least it is now on its way. I also sent a note to my new doc, and they quickly replied that they had approved the refill. So, finally, it is on its way.

Why not the local pharmacy, the worn RiteAide a few miles away? I have found that they have a three-day or more backlog. Sometimes they reject my prescriptions without an explanation that I can understand. Lastly, they fill my prescription at a central location and then mail them to the local RiteAide, thus the backlog. To fill an urgent need, I would likely have to use Beaverton Pharmacy, a locally owned store, now as RiteAide and the other corporate places are overwhelmed when the same companies close so-called excess pharmacies.

I started the morning, as I said, a bit later. I attended five hours, yes all morning, Zoom meetings. I am covering a few items for the master data engineering group I have worked with for years. They are short-staffed from the usual things of family events, visa updates, and the holidays. I try to help.

I called US Bank and talked to the Anti-Fraud division. I saw in my reports in Quicken of doubling of Paypal transfers from my USB checking to Paypal, and my Paypal account was not showing a matching receipt. We reviewed it and found that the double transactions are NOT in my transactions. Somehow Quicken, or me, had doubled the transactions. It got pretty light-hearted as I discovered I had hacked myself and the Anti-Fraud expert was happy and laughing with me. It was fun to hang out with the Anti-Fraud for a bit, and after letting Anit-Fraud go, I deleted the mistaken transactions. I will watch for them to learn what I am doing wrong in Quicken!

The mail came, and my new solo board game was dropped off (three days early): 414 BC: Seige of Syracuse. I paid one of Susie’s medical bills; Susie has about $200 in over-the-counter items and about $200 in prescriptions a month. I opened the game, and it was nicely made. I read a bit of the rule. More to come on that later.

As it is Friday, I make lunch by baking a premade frozen Chicken Cordon Blu from Schwann’s, frozen corn, Schwann’s, and instant mashed potatoes. I am using things I have at the house. Everything was good, but unlike when you use a restaurant, the kitchen is now full of dishes to do. Hmmm.

Before cooking, I did the dishes and reassembled the glassware and covers that Gene and Glenda got me. It packs small to larger, so it only takes the space of the largest pieces, three containers for which I have to find a place. Sort of Russian Dolls of the cookware.

I follow along and even do a Zoom meeting while cooking. I get a load of laundry done. I take a short break while eating. More status and review meetings pop up, unusual for the official no-meeting Friday, but by 3PM, I have finished all the meetings planned for Friday. The traffic of emails and Slack messages diminishes in the mid-afternoon, finally.

Dressing between meetings, I leave in Air Volvo to Susie’s. The trip across Beaverton was in a surprising amount of traffic. Folks drive very slowly, and traffic backs up to the next traffic light. It takes me thirty minutes for my usual twenty-minute trip.

Susie looks tired and is watching Golden Girls in her recliner in the living room. We tried to call Leta, Susie’s mother but got no response. Next, Barb, Susie’s sister, calls, and they are having dinner with Leta at Cracker Barrel. We chatted on my iPhone using FaceTime for a while, and their food arrived. We get to see dinner: Country Fried steak for Leta, and Barb and Caleb, Barb’s son, have the Chicken and Dumplins.

Susie is sad to have me leave so soon, it is a work day, and I am worried that another thing will pop up on this unusually busy Friday. So I go with a kiss and promise to be back on Saturday.

The trip home hits an early rush hour traffic jam in Beaverton. I am stuck on Murphy Road for ten minutes. Air Volvo reaches the Volvo Cave after nearly an hour of travel; ugh. I check in at work, and nothing has been sent in my direction, but I see messages from folks working all afternoon, and the software is working so far. Nothing for me.

I read a bit of The Last Magician and have cheese and crackers for dinner. Dondrea had supplied me with a basket for Christmas, and I should start to use that up.

I spent some time on my electronics and became frustrated as my Gemma M0s were not working well with my Apple. The one I planned to reuse seemed unstable.

I switched to my Dell Windows laptop as my M1-based Apple laptop is still having issues with the dynamic disk mounting the Gemma use. You plug the Gemma in with a USB mini-A cable (I have four types of lines for this kind of work) to an Apple, Linux, or Windows 7 (or better) computer. The cable will mount the memory of the Gemma as an alternative disk drive, much like a memory stick, and there you can change the code that runs the Gemma.

You can also set the Gemma into boot mode by pressing the reset button twice fast. This allows you to replace the software with a newer version or re-image a bricked Gemma. For example, I found a Gemma in the original package in my collection of hardware, and I loaded the current software on its boot.

The device survived, and I returned it to normal mode, mounted it, and discovered it was empty. I found a copy of the demo code and loaded that. It failed. I then got new supportive libraries for MicroPython supplied by AdaFruit in NYC–they make the Gemma. Next, it failed as there was a bug in the keyboard software. I noticed that the device, the size of a US quarter, did not have a keyboard and commented out that code. Back to working.

It had been hours. I was done with Gemma for today! My radio also started stopping when I stood up in the chair again. I believe the breakout board for the radio chip connection is unstable, and the right vibration will cause it to shut down the radio. Something to fix with electrical tape. Some other day.

Next, I watched the election of the USA Speaker of the House election. I was less interested in politics as theater, but in hearing the initial speech of the speaker. McCarthy’s speech did contain a few conciliatory words, but I was not surprised when it became laced with anti-spending, anti-China, and conspiracy theory statements. However, the delivery and back and forth from near-rabid attacks to calls for all Americans to work together was well done. He even made some wisecracks that got me to laugh. While I do not like the latest political theater from the right, at least the speaker can make me smile. He is an excellent choice for the Republicans; well done.

I read and finally went to sleep after midnight. I woke up a few times and started late on Saturday.

Thank you for reading.

Another morning that was not welcome and seemed to sneak up on me. I managed to wake up fifteen minutes early, 5:45AM, and then I was utterly and profoundly asleep after ten minutes, and my alarm blasted me awake. Ugly.

I managed to end the alarm on my iPhone without incident (I did not drop it). I staggered to the kitchen and started the hot water for the French press coffee, and set out an NYC Everything Bagel to start defrosting. I then went and did 25 minutes of exercises and stretches. Next, I toasted the bagel after it spent ten seconds in the microwave so I could cut it in half with ease. And then I started the coffee in the press, liberal, and got a yogurt out of the fridge.

I thus started my morning online after finishing my exercises and stretches; two sets are done in my office as one takes a chair and the other a wall. I am feeling better and stronger. It seems to be working.

After bringing all the laptops to life, I reviewed all the issues from work, email, text, and Slack channels at 6:40ish. Nothing was pressing for me. I then read my own personal email. I ate my breakfast while reading all of this. After that, time burning away fast, I rushed into the shower, got dressed, and headed out.

I put my Nike laptop on a shelf as I put on my coat, and it fell and hit the floor. It appeared undamaged, but later the keyboard was now wave-shaped. I pushed it back in, and after a few ominous snapping sounds, it worked again (except for the ‘Delete’ button, which I was not sure was working before). A tiny bit of plastic did break. Again, it is working, mostly.

The same laptop I had set on the passenger seat today went flying when the emergency breaking happened on TV highway when a driver decided to entirely stop on TV highway before turning right–not a best practice. I was lucky that I was not rear-ended when I suddenly stopped. The laptop was undamaged as it landed on Air Volvo’s floor. It was a hard day for notebook computers!

Returning to the morning, I got aboard Air Volvo and did play connect the school buses for a while, but I did arrive before 8 at Clubhouse. I started my three hours of Zoom meetings at 8:30. I had status meetings and a technical meeting on using a tool to revise some master data and related transactional data. The meetings, no details can be put here, left me a bit disquieted. This was followed by WageWorks denying my medical reimbursement for the same invoice they approved in December. This is a multi-thousand-dollar expense for Susie, and I was expecting it to be approved like it was in December. I contacted HR and have a ticket for them to investigate; I told my boss how unhappy I am and will have to appeal, in writing, WageWork’s decision for Nike to reject my expense. I am pissed and depressed about this. I did not need another fight with another outside company doing medical stuff for Nike. I had Allegiance Senior Care revise the wording in their invoice to allow reimbursement, and one had been approved–frustrating.

Aside: I am daydreaming of sending a copy of my appeal to the CEO of Nike with a cover letter explaining this is not my first time with this kind of shenanigans–but I know that fantasy will not improve my results. But it would be lovely to think that John Donahoe would help and make this process easier.

I left Clubhouse for the day; I had lunch at Serena William’s cafeteria at Nike WHQ and talked about trading company stuff for a while with Scott. I have a salad from the excellent salad bar and enjoy the happy place that is the cafe. I also got my exercise in as I parked Air Volvo at the New York City Garage and walked through all the new campus trails. It is lovely, and I look forward to Thursday’s lunch on campus. Then, I worked in the lobby until Scott found me, and we headed to lunch. It is always a gift to work on campus, even for a few minutes.

After lunch and my long walk across campus, Air Volvo took me across Beaverton to the hummingbird house. There I found Susie in her recliner watching TV. She was delighted to see me. We called her mother on my iPhone, and they chatted for a while on FaceTime. I can only show up for twenty minutes or so on a workday, and that disappointed Susie. She is still used to me being there for hours during Christmas.

My picture-taking did not work that well today. Susie smiled after the photo.

With a kiss, I took Air Volvo back and just managed to get back intact. I connected to work and continued my work on vendor patches (called OSS notes for those who speak SAP). I have everything applied and now need to get them tested. I will attempt to convince the project folks that it is better to get the performance and stability fixes in now instead of waiting for an emergency. It is a matter of priority and resources.

I rested for a bit and decided not to write the appeal to WageWorks/Nike letter tonight. I will likely do better with a night’s sleep. I read some more of the Last Magician–I like it.

I went to get things ready in the kitchen. I froze the rest of the Christmas ham (I seem to have an infinite supply of ham) and finished the rest of the Pork Vindaloo (having to toss a bit as it was getting old–next time, I will freeze it after it initially cools). I put away the clean dishes, ran the dishwasher, and assembled the glassware for Gene and Glenda for the next seat of leftovers. I took out the trash. I am thinking jambalaya for next week and being leftovers.

The kerfuffle that is the speaker voting in the USA House of Representatives continued. I watched some of it, and my prediction that they would nominate the former president (Trump) came true. So far, only one vote for Trump as speaker has been cast, but we will see what Friday brings.

I cannot always handle the pile-on I get sometimes, and today seemed just depressing. Thus, I am drinking a dark-as-death beer in Wildwood Taphouse, and I already feel better. It is like the song “everyone knows your name.” I am writing the blog while enjoying dark beer.

Thanks for reading; sorry, I was grumpy.

My Spacejammer laser-cut wood Dungeons and Dragons scale models showed today. More to follow. Excited to get them.

Going backward, I came to the house at 9ish after choir practice on Wednesday at First United Methodist Church, Beaverton–the church next to the fountain and the park just out of Old Town. There, I do not sing; instead, Zophia, an 11-year-old, plays board games with me while her mother, Dondrea, rehearses with the band and the choir. Today we played Architects of the West Kingdom, in which Zophia was having some trouble, at first, remembering how to play. Finally, she did build a great work in the game, and gameplay started to return to her. I scored crushingly higher, but she did well and would, in the next play, be ready to defeat me. Architects is a worker placement and resource management and, in its final form, after the latest Kickstarter, has many options and directions. It is rated the 87th-best game on Board Game Geek. It uses my fav option, a simple turn structure, and a difficult overall strategy.

Zophia decided to take on the mean board game, Brass: Lancashire, that we last played before the holidays. It was the first game playing in weeks (the holidays and both of us had colds). I brought the newly purchased (and expensive) Iron Clay brand poker chips. Zophia agreed that the poker chips really improved the play of Brass.

The game is mean as you can quickly get in the face of the other player and each move usually reduces the options of your opponents in the game. Also, there are correct choices, and I understand the game well and have my turns planned two or three steps ahead. But, Zophia loves the competition and the complexity with the brain burn–she is starting to see the patterns. The game is the 20th best and is in its new version (originally from 2007) and rated for 14+ years of age, so Zophia loves that she is managing to hold her own at 11! We also managed to own our own part of the board, so we did not slam into each other. Zophia and I managed to get about 3/4 before we ran out of time. I was, at that time, ahead, but Zophia matched me at 27 for the first epoch, excellent, and she would likely have pushed further up the points–she still had a lot of money to spend. I suspect I will be fighting for my life in Brass next Wednesday!

Aside: If you want to do just resource management with little randomness, Brass Lancashire is a good choice. However, this is not a beginner’s game. Brass: Burmington is a kinder version and is the 2nd best game on Board Game Geek. I like the Lancashire version better. Both are fun and recommended; not for beginners!

Before this, I was home. I rested a bit after 4ish; I had physical therapy PT today and was fatigued. I spent the last hours loading vendor patches (OSS notes for those who understand SAP software). I am working on fixes to the master data (MDG again to those who live and breathe SAP software) for performance improvements and vendor-recommended updates for stability. I had created a list of suggestions and received more–I was installing the fixes in our sandbox to validate the application of the fixes. I spent most of the day at work looking at upgrades and patches and applying them.

Before this, as I hinted, I was at PT–my weekly visit–and Michael and Leo had me working on existing and some new exercises. Michael was interested in helping me with my lift for Susie. So he reviewed the best way to keep my back straight and then had me practice with some light weights. Leo then finished with me running through the current exercises. It is an intense hour. I have three more sessions.

Moving back more, I had lunch at McMenamins Oak Hills. I stuck to diet soda but had their curry tuna sandwich–McMenamins make their own beer, and I like their Ruby Ale. McMenamins is a local chain that often buys historical places and turns them into spas, restaurants, and event centers.

I worked, using their Wifi, on the vendor patches, followed along at work, and watched the kerfuffle of the USA House of Representatives not electing a speaker again. I pointed out to the waiter that there were no requirements for being the speaker, and he should put his name in. He ignored me but thought it funny that there were no requirements. So I worked there for about an hour on Nike stuff.

Before this, I visited Susie at the hummingbird house. I had traveled there from work in the morning. I could only stay for about twenty minutes on a workday. So first, we connected to Susie’s mother, who had just finished her hair appointment. So Susie and she has a short chat on FaceTime. Next, as I had some more time, we called Susie’s sister, Barb, who was still at work (a school secretary in Grand Ledge, Michigan), and talked briefly with her. Susie needs some PJs, and Barb might manage that (I have found a few pairs at the house, but most have already migrated to the hummingbird house and, before that, at the Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center–we seemed to have lost a few sets now). I will try to bring some I have found, and maybe Barb can find some more.

Susie is always sad when I leave, and the return to work has shortened my visits–making it even harder.

Moving to the early morning, I started at 6AM and began with my exercises after starting the coffee. I spend about twenty-five minutes running through all the stretches and exercises. I then had breakfast, this time pumpkin pie eft over from Christmas dinner (Rev. Anne suggested that warm pumpkin pie is an excellent breakfast–I left mine cold–and I agree it is an ideal breakfast), plus yogurt with liberal coffee.

Waking, the alarm at 6AM was not welcomed with joy and cheers. Regrets and debates about maybe just a few more minutes of sleep were brushed off, and the day started with stoicism and the realization that the weekend was getting closer by the minute–there was hope! The cause of the difficulty was obvious. I was reading the new book from the Smiths for Christmas, The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell, and enjoying it. I did not stop until after midnight. Yes, the morning seemed to come only minutes after I closed my eyes! Good books (Michelle Smith picks excellent ones) are a weakness–I can’t stop sometimes.

I finished Nameless Serenade (The Commissario Ricciardi Mysteries) and loved it. I had predicted the ending, but it was still a great read. I care for the Commissario and all the book’s regulars. I laugh through the book. Recommended (it is number nine, I think, in the series).

Yesterday I received some more stamps for my collection and put them in my album. I am filling the holes here and there. I also have, embarrassedly, purchased two stamps to replace two stamps misplaced in the albums (I have two albums, USA and USA Revenues). I have finally found reasonably priced correct stamps and my Columbians are now nearly completed (the $3 and $4 stamps from 1893 are not filled as the price point for such stamps is out of my budget–but I did find a reasonably priced proof of the $5 and that brings a smile when I turn to 1892–it was the only time I have seen it offered in an auction as a single stamp).

Well, that brings me past 11PM on Wednesday, and I am still blogging. I just finished the pumpkin pie. I will return to the NYC bagels for breakfast (all safely frozen) this coming morning. I am likely going to read too late. I am also blasting my radio–testing it. It is still running after an hour. No unexpected shutdowns, and it is running at 9V 2A power and blasting out old rock. A pleasant end for today.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you don’t mind that my attention wanders a bit on some days.

Today I started at 6AM and did all my excises except riding the stationary bike first thing this morning. I then read my emails, texts, and Slack messages for home and work. I was rushed as I had to be at work at 8AM. I was doing OK initially, but my Nike work account was locked. I had let the password expire, which can only be reset when directly attached to a Nike network. So I closed my work laptop and finished getting dressed.

I had yogurt and a banana for breakfast with liberal coffee that I then put in a travel cup. I managed to find one school bus on the way in, but the traffic was light, and the buses had not quite flooded the areas, so I made good time.

I cleared all the locks on my Nike laptop in twenty minutes of frustrating logging and re-logging as the password change filtered through the Nike network and my Nike iPhone. It took four tries to get the laptop to get the password changed and usable. I did make my Zoom meetings starting at 8:30.

I wear a mask at work, but usually only in small rooms. I am less worried about Covid-19, but RSV and all those particular colds and flu versions I just don’t need. I wash my hands often. I also remember my physical therapy request to stand up every thirty minutes.

Work was a lot of remembering what we do, what we need to do today, and what is upcoming. There were lots of “Happy New Year,” and folks were happy to see each other. After years of pandemic isolation, it is always good to see people!

I headed to Susie’s place in Portland (Tigard), the hummingbird house. The traffic was light, and I witnessed no imaginative driving. When I arrived, Susie was still eating her breakfast. Jennifer, the live-in nursing aide, said Susie was tired and started later.

Susie was delighted to see me, and I sat at the dining table while she had her breakfast. Susie was able to feed herself today. While her freshly made oatmeal cooled, we called Susie’s mother, Leta, and chatted with her for a bit. I held the phone while they chatted and answered many of Leta’s queries. Susie continued to eat. Leta rang off after a bit, and I had to leave as it was a work day. Susie was a bit distressed that my visit was short, but it is what I can manage on a workday.

Susie’s Orchids from The Smiths (plus Jason).

I returned to work after getting a Carl’s Jr. Western burger, a guilty pleasure and listened to Oregon Public Broadcasting on Air Volvo’s radio while eating. They interviewed the gal in charge of the new paid-leave program in Oregon. Anyone working for a usual employee (not Federal or self-employed) now, starting October, gets paid leave. Having been on paid leave for my cancer treatments and caring for Susie from Nike, I am a supporter of giving this same benefit to everyone. The tax is 1%, and I hope it is enough to help folks.

After listening to the radio and eating my burger, I returned to the shoe company and did some admin work for myself and others. I followed along and tried to get back into the flow of things. I left at 3ish and then logged back in at the house in my office there.

After 5ish, I called Rev. Anne Weld-Martin and checked in–her husband is moving from the hospital to a rehabilitation program at a yet-to-be-determined facility. I offered to meet her a Matzalan for Mexican food at the nearby strip mall. She was delighted with a chance to dine out with a friend.

We met at 6:30ish, with me getting their first and enjoying a large margarita (on the rocks with salt) with chips and salsa. We both ordered a Chili Relleno and an enchilada (mine cheese, and her’s meat). We shared a scoop of ice cream for dessert.

Rev. Anne and I talked about the current political kerfuffle in Washington, the Speaker of the House was not elected on the first vote (that has not happened since 1923). We also chatted about how God is not found in the experience but really in the written word and the spoken word. What makes us human, at least what I believe, is writing and reading–we transmit words into the future by writing them and copying them. Anne reminded me that God was not in the wind or the mountain but in the quiet voice. It was a fun chat.

We had a delightful dinner, and we both headed off to do our tasks, me to write this blog and Anne to get some music ready.

Thanks for reading.

And for those who wonder what is wrong with the USA: Goof Gas.